To filter liquids and/or gases of undesired contaminants or impurities, filters and/or purification material, e.g., filter membranes, are used in enclosed filter housings to effectuate contaminant or impurity removal. As used herein, “filter and/or purification material” and/or “filtration material” shall mean any filter membrane, filter media, or any other material or substance used to filter fluids including liquids and gases. To deliver fluids and/or gases to the filter material for filtering, conduits in the form of tubes or pipes are used to deliver the materials to be filtered to a filter capsule containing filter material. As used herein, “filter capsule” shall mean any structure, including, but not limited to, housings, shells, disc filters, filter cages, filter cartridges and the like used to enclose filter material. The conduits can be rigid pipe or pliable tubes made from such materials as thermoplastic elastomers (TPE). For rigid pipe, connectors such as clamps, threaded couplings and the like can be used. For soft pliable tubes, hose barbs are the conventional connection choice. Each form of connection includes several drawbacks.
Rigid connectors add considerable cost and spatial inflexibility to the filter assembly, particularly with the use of tri-clamp arrangements that use a clamp to secure flanged ports with flanged tubes. The use of flanged tubes creates at least two potential contamination points. The first is the junction of the flange to the tube. In some available versions, such as those offered by Saint-Gobain, if the seal between the hard plastic or metallic flange and relatively soft tube is in any way compromised, contaminants, such as bacteria, could potentially enter the filter assembly, or, depending upon the application, permit the exit of bacterial contaminants from the filter assembly.
A second point of potential contamination is the clamp/flange juncture. Any damage to the seal between the two adjoining surfaces also could lead to potential contaminant infiltration of the filter assembly. Such events can occur with multiple filter sterilization cycles that may involve high heat or gamma radiation. The use of different materials for the tubes and connectors, each material having different characteristics, e.g., melting points and flexural moduli, can have different reactions to sterilization procedures and lead to compromised seals and seal failure.
Barbs are notoriously prone to connection failure. By design, a barb, over which a tube is secured, exposes an inner wall of a tube to defined annular or segmented acute edges that dig or bite into the tube material. This inevitably weakens the tube at the connection point and can lead to tube failure, particularly if the filter assembly and tube(s) are pressurized. Barb accessory components such as barb lock systems can further add to the mechanical stress placed on the tube at the barb connection. Pressurization of a filter system can add additional stress to the tube/barb connection and lead to tube deterioration and connection failure. Mechanical stress on the barb connection may also occur with movement of the filter assembly while the tube is connected to the assembly. Any of these potential sources of stress on the tube/barb connection can lead to contaminant infiltration or exit, depending upon the location of the tube and its assigned purpose (inlet, outlet or vent). What is needed is a soft tube filter assembly connection that eliminates the need for any clamping or barb connection systems so as to eliminate potential contamination points.
What is needed further is a tube/tube connector/capsule combination that eliminates a connection point between a relatively soft tube and a relatively rigid port that can withstand manufacturing processes as well as post-use sterilization procedures so as to maintain structural and seal integrity. What is also needed is a tube connector that improves the structural integrity of the tube/capsule connection point so as to rigidify the tube end secured to the capsule. These and other objects of the disclosure will become apparent from a reading of the following summary and detailed description of the disclosure as well as a review of the appended drawings.